18 replies to this topic

[mymini007]

Ok, I am new to this section, but i have been collecting up somebits and bobs, to go in my car, but have no idea where to start.

I have

Sony Bluetooth MP3 USB Player
Alpine 250w Amp
A Smaller Kenwood amp
A pair of (240w, I think) 6x9s
A pair of 7" fusion speakers
A pair of 7" sony speakers
A pair of 5" fusion component speakers with tweeters
1 amp wiring kit

I can use a saw and I have a garage full of MDF, any ideas plaese

Edited by mymini007, 20 September 2009 - 07:05 AM.

[pbrain]

you can do a nice install...if you got the following as well!...

Tools: a jigsaw cutter, decent screwdrivers, hand drill (+ 3mm pilot bits), multi-meter

Materials: woodglue, 2" wood screws, 2 core cable (you can get away with mains cable on the cheap, but OFC would be better looking!), another amp wiring kit (if not 12 or better guage power cable) single core cable (for remote on), 2x 3+ metre RCA cable, twin fuse holder

There's quite a lot you can do with your kit...

run 2 pairs of speakers from HU, a pair of speakers (higher power) from kenwood amp running hi-pass (~50hz+), full range & 6x9's off the alpine doing (a bit) of bass.

run 1 pair of speakers from HU, 2 pair of speakers (if 4 channel or 2 channel allowing 2ohm) from Kenwood, again 6x9's off alpine.

If you've got plenty of MDF (jammy bugger) you could make your own styled door panels with speaker pods/inserts to suit. a lot of mini owners put 6x9's under the rear seat to achieve space saving bass, again MDF to the rescue! create a 'stealth' shelf on the back to fit any of the speakers (you may need to cut through the metal work to recess the speakers). make a boom box for the boot and fit 2x 6x9's in it running in mono

when it comes to wiring the amps, you can either wire them independantly and have 2 fuses, 2 positive cables etc. or have a main cable from the battery going into a 2 fuse holder, a 30A fuse should be enough for the Alpine (30Ax14v=420W max), you'll have to work out the fuse for the other amp (you didn't give any details!) and wire to each amp. run earth cables from amps to the nearest ground point (i usually look for a fixing bolt in the chassis! ...clean well until shiny, rust-free metal)
Take you single core wire from the back of the HU to the remote of the amp (normally this is designed to operate 1 device, you may get away with 2 amps) and then from this amp take the cable to the remote of the last amp. any more than 2 amps, then i would recommend using a powered relay.
Take your 2 pairs of RCA's from HU to the amps, 'sub' out to the alpine and 'front' or 'rear' to the kenwood (i tend to use the 'rear' but that's a personal choice)

before fitting speakers, measure them with a multi-meter (at lowest resistance setting) normally these should read around 4ohms (+-1ohm) there are different speakers and resistances but that shouldn't be a concern with your kit. when you've wired your amps etc. measure the resistance from car battery terminal to amplifier terminal this should be as close to 0ohm's as possible (ideally less than 1ohm) do this on both + and -.

sorry if all this is old news...it just came across as you are new to ICE

[mymini007]

All that looks great but I really am very new, and half of what you said makes sence. But half makes no sence at all!
You need to go right back to basics. I will get some pics up of the gear I have to give you a better idea.

[pbrain]

ok, get as much info as possible about your gear and let us know what makes no sense and i'll do my best to explain. if i get chance i'll do a wiring diagram for a typical set-up using your gear.

[Brams96]

Post some specifications of your amps & speakers, if you have model numbers then thats even better, then we can all help you more specificly.

[mymini007]

Post some specifications of your amps & speakers, if you have model numbers then thats even better, then we can all help you more specificly.

ok, get as much info as possible about your gear and let us know what makes no sense and i'll do my best to explain. if i get chance i'll do a wiring diagram for a typical set-up using your gear.

Cheers guys, I will have a look tomorrow, get some pics and give you all the details I can, wiring diagram would be superb!

[mymini007]

Ok, I now have some pics, and a bit more information for ya!

My CD USB Player I went for the USB as my car wont play CDs (too bumpy) But I do have 3 other CD players, that I could use if that one is no good

OK

1x Alpine amp = V-power 250 MRP-T222 + 1x kenwood amp = KAC - 720




2x 5.25" fusion 180watt 4 OHM EN-CM5250



2x 6.5" fusion 240watt 4 OHM EN-CM65



2x 5.25" JVC 130watt 4 OHM CS-V 514



2x 6x9 FLI 375watt 125RMS



and some green and black thingy mabobbies with wasnames inside



And about 20sqm of 6mm MDF



I am pretty handy with a jigsaw, and a drill so I can knock together any boxes etc required, made the speaker board in about 20 mins, so another one would not be a problem.

[Brams96]

Use the Alpine amp to drive your 6x9's either mounted in the rear seat kick panel or if you want to cut things in the rear parcel tray.

Use the Kenwood amp to drive your 6.5" Fusions mounted in the doors. The thingi-maboobies are actually called 'crossovers' and should be used with the 6.5's but you'll have to get yourself some 1" tweeters which should be mounted on top of the dash or somewhere close. Remember tweeters are directional so should be aimed at a point around chin height in the middle between the front seat.

The 5.25" fusions could be driven off the head unit and mounted in the rear parcel tray. I wouldn't worry too much about using the other 'dual cone' speakers as the fusions will give better sound.

All front speakers should be focused into the middle of the car for the best sound the rear speakers are just there for a bit of fill in sound so dont need to be angled. When cutting MDF make sure you use a mask as the dust is carcenogenic (cancer causing).

Have fun!

[mymini007]

Use the Alpine amp to drive your 6x9's either mounted in the rear seat kick panel or if you want to cut things in the rear parcel tray.

Use the Kenwood amp to drive your 6.5" Fusions mounted in the doors. The thingi-maboobies are actually called 'crossovers' and should be used with the 6.5's but you'll have to get yourself some 1" tweeters which should be mounted on top of the dash or somewhere close. Remember tweeters are directional so should be aimed at a point around chin height in the middle between the front seat.

The 5.25" fusions could be driven off the head unit and mounted in the rear parcel tray. I wouldn't worry too much about using the other 'dual cone' speakers as the fusions will give better sound.

All front speakers should be focused into the middle of the car for the best sound the rear speakers are just there for a bit of fill in sound so dont need to be angled. When cutting MDF make sure you use a mask as the dust is carcenogenic (cancer causing).

Have fun!

Cheers, for that, I have some 1" speakers. So I think all i will need is another amp wiring kit, Now the alpine has a "R" for the remote on cable, but the kenwwod does not. Does it need it?

[Brams96]

To wire up both amps to switch on remotely you'll need a high current (30A) relay and connect it as shown.

As you turn on the head unit the remote wire will energise turning on the Alpine amp and at the same time energising the relay which will make the contact and supply voltage to the Kenwood amp. If you do it this way then make sure you fuse the amp wireS within 0.4m of the battery this will save your wiring and probably your car should a fault occur on that line.

Let us know how you get on.

Attached Files

•  Amp_Wiring.JPG   20.29K   18 downloads

[pbrain]

To wire up both amps to switch on remotely you'll need a high current (30A) relay and connect it as shown.

As you turn on the head unit the remote wire will energise turning on the Alpine amp and at the same time energising the relay which will make the contact and supply voltage to the Kenwood amp. If you do it this way then make sure you fuse the amp wireS within 0.4m of the battery this will save your wiring and probably your car should a fault occur on that line.

Let us know how you get on.

all good advice! certainly agree with dumping the dual cones (nasty!) and getting some 1" tweeters for the fusions (they look pretty decent actually)

Pioneer KAC amp's before my time didn't they have remote power on?

[mymini007]

Do I not need to run this through the fuse box in the car?
Where do I put the (30a) relay, what do I earth it too, and where do I get one!

Which ones are the dual cones? are they the blur JVC ones?

The wiring kit I have runs the amp off of the headunit, not the battery

Edited by mymini007, 22 September 2009 - 05:15 PM.

[pbrain]

1, Do I not need to run this through the fuse box in the car?
2, Where do I put the (30a) relay
3, what do I earth it too
4, and where do I get one!

5, Which ones are the dual cones? are they the blur JVC ones?

6, The wiring kit I have runs the amp off of the headunit, not the battery

1, No, take the supply from the battery to a new fusebox as close a possible to the battery.
2, the 30A relay goes between one of your new fuses and the kenwood + supply ('in' + 'out' tag of relay) there will be at least 2 more tags on the relay, the 'coil input tag' connects to the 'remote out' of the head-unit and the other tag goes to 'ground'*
3, *'earth' is another word for the chassis & negative side of the battery, when you connect the amplifiers, take the 'earth' (or -) to the nearest possible chassis point of the car, if you're going to use an existing bolt hole, remove the bolt, clean thoroughly until shiny metal finish and sandpaper the surface around the hole to ensure a good electrical connection.
4, see above!
5, 'dual cones' these are speakers with a 'cup' in the centre...bloody 'orrible... these centre pieces add extra midrange to the speaker.
6, that doesn't sound right. most wiring kits go directly to the battery, Mini owner's have the luxury of a rear battery and shouldn't really need one (but may be cheaper than buying cable, fusebox & fixings separately)

Edited by pbrain, 22 September 2009 - 06:40 PM.

[mymini007]

1, Do I not need to run this through the fuse box in the car?
2, Where do I put the (30a) relay
3, what do I earth it too
4, and where do I get one!

5, Which ones are the dual cones? are they the blur JVC ones?

6, The wiring kit I have runs the amp off of the headunit, not the battery

1, No, take the supply from the battery to a new fusebox as close a possible to the battery.
2, the 30A relay goes between one of your new fuses and the kenwood + supply ('in' + 'out' tag of relay) there will be at least 2 more tags on the relay, the 'coil input tag' connects to the 'remote out' of the head-unit and the other tag goes to 'ground'*
3, *'earth' is another word for the chassis & negative side of the battery, when you connect the amplifiers, take the 'earth' (or -) to the nearest possible chassis point of the car, if you're going to use an existing bolt hole, remove the bolt, clean thoroughly until shiny metal finish and sandpaper the surface around the hole to ensure a good electrical connection.
4, see above!
5, 'dual cones' these are speakers with a 'cup' in the centre...bloody 'orrible... these centre pieces add extra midrange to the speaker.
6, that doesn't sound right. most wiring kits go directly to the battery, Mini owner's have the luxury of a rear battery and shouldn't really need one (but may be cheaper than buying cable, fusebox & fixings separately)

Sorry crossed wires

4, and where do I get one!

Relay? And how much are they?

The amp kit I have has 2 wires bonded together with 4 audio plugs, 2 red 2 white, the pic on the box shows it going from the head unit to the amp directly, and then the small blue wire to the remote terminal.

[Brams96]

4, and where do I get one!

Relay? And how much are they?

You want to get a relay like THIS. Connect the remote wire from the head unit to connection 86 and another wire from 85 to the chassis. Connect the fused supply wire from the battery to connection 87 (not 87a) and another wire the same size as the supply wire to the amp. You'll have to get some large spade crimp terminals to connect it all together. You could probably get away with 8ga cable which would make it easier to wire.

The amp kit I have has 2 wires bonded together with 4 audio plugs

These sound like RCA cables and connect from the back of the head unit to the amplifier. Connect the remote output from the head unit to the rca remote wire with a connector block or crimp terminal. If there is only 2 RCA outs (red & white )from the head unit you'll also have to get some RCA splitters, this means you'll loose your fade or balance capability but that shouldn't matter too much. One RCA cable goes to the Alpine amp & the other to the Kenwood amp.

Edited by Brams96, 23 September 2009 - 04:55 PM.